Nearly as much as we love traveling, we love to have guests. Therefore we were so excited to have Abe and Emma visit us in the autumn followed by his parents, Jeff and Anne over the new year.
It was a busy summer. But looking back we realized that we had spent little time enjoying Switzerland. So we headed to Lake Lucerne for a weekend between blue-green waters and soaring mountains.
Every year the company organizes a volunteer team to do some kind of clean-up or maintenance work for the community and this year we found ourselves in a nature preserve north of Basel, which is part of the city’s water works and as a bonus, we were given a fascinating tour of the massive operations.
The Kaltbrunnental is an eight (or so) kilometer-long, narrow karst valley full of waterfalls, springs, caves, and the icy cold Ibach river. I have driven through or past it many times, so when I finally decided to explore it on foot this weekend, it was only fitting that the car was left behind.
Though we have not forgotten how much fun it can be to host friends and family, it was still surprising just how much joy we get in playing tour guide as it was with my cousin Jeanene and her husband Deavron traveling around Switzerland, Germany, and France.
With the settling in of wonderful warm, summer weather and welcoming guests for the weekend, we decided to lace up our boots and head out for a hike and explore the nearby canton of Jura.
